


Chance Meeting

by the_seaworthy_muffin



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur Pendragon Returns (Merlin), But Gwen doesn't, Chance Meetings, F/M, Immortal Merlin (Merlin), M/M, Modern Era, Phone call format, Reincarnation, Snow, Tender - Freeform, Wistful, did i get them all? - Freeform, merlin remembers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28709991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_seaworthy_muffin/pseuds/the_seaworthy_muffin
Summary: Gwen runs into a king and his sorcerer on a snowy walk back home.
Relationships: Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41





	Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> It was snowing so beautifully where I lived today, I had to write something snowy! That was non-negotiable. Though it did turn out a lot more wistful and feel-ish than the more light-hearted piece I'd thought of writing.  
> So, well, I challenged myself to type like crazy for thirty minutes and then submit whatever turned out, and this is the result. I actually like it quite a lot- do you?  
> Recommended soundtrack: Departure, by Michael Nyman, or Dante's Prayer, the Loreena Mckennitt song. Also a cup of tea. :)

Lance?

Ah, yes, it’s you. Sorry- my hands are full of snowy umbrella. Is that even an expression? Oh, I can hear you laughing. Though, honest, Lance, I’ve never seen it snow so much in London in my entire life.

Must be the Christmas Sprits stirring, or something. It’s so absurd- not being able to go to the groceries without a mask, you know? I feel like my face might wither in shock if it’s ever able to get a fresh puff of air again.

Goodness, Lance, I was serious! Stop laughing- stop- alright, I admit, I laughed a little too.

You know, the strangest thing happened to me tonight.

Not bad, really! No-one hurt me, you won’t have to bring yourself and your karate black belt over to beat the shite out of anyone. You need to stay in bed; you heard the doctor as well as I did. Really. It’s just- strange. In, you know, those Christmas ghost stories sort of way. Or like one of those Celtic legends we learnt about in that Mythology selective you dragged me over to last semester.

I was rounding the bend just behind our flat, when I heard- yes, Lance, I’m not pulling your leg! Two men laughing.

Oh, I know there’s nothing strange about people _laughing_ , but it’s such a quiet avenue, you know, and it was eleven o’clock at night. And they just sounded so- happy and carefree, like all their wishes had come true, that I just had to stop and listen for a bit. Heaven knows we don’t have enough to laugh about, nowadays.

And then they came round the bend, and I saw them, and I swear- I almost got a heart attack! They were going to catch the death of themselves, the two of them, barefooted in the snow. The snow was coming down in great heaps, almost like there really was a big man up in the sky pouring the stuff down in buckets, and there they were, two men, one blond and one dark-haired, standing in the snow without shoes.

And I swear, Lance, they didn’t even look cold.

Goodness, Lance, no! I mean, it’s none of my business, isn’t it? I couldn’t just have gone up to them and given them my boots, you great bleeding heart, you. And yes, you know I meant that in a good way. Though I’d rather appreciate it if you’d looked after your own health before you went gamboozling about after others. I worry about you, some days- well. But I’m getting off point, here.

Just- the sight was so strange, and- magical, somehow, as if I’d just slipped into some fairy tale. I could hear snippets of what they were saying- ‘ _Mer_ lin, now when I told you it would be better to simply walk out like a normal person-‘ ‘My- just got a bit overenthusiastic, is all. And I’m keeping you warm, aren’t I?’ I mean, it sounded suspiciously much like they were talking about magic, of all things, and I’m not really sure, because that would make them totally insane……

But the picture they drew. The taller one- I still remember, he had these really, really blue eyes, that almost looked like they were looking through me- he was grinning, like Christmas had come a day early, and the blond one, he was rubbing his knuckles into the other man’s head, except, like, in a friendly way? I don’t know, Lance, it sounds so absurd saying this, but it just looked so tender, too tender for it to be just two boys horsing around.

-No, Lance, of course not! That was just me describing- of course I only have eyes on you, you twat. Though come to think of it those two looked awfully familiar- you know how you said you felt when you ran into your mate Percival back in grade school?

Yeah, something like that. I think.

Well, I blinked, because it almost looked like there was this faint golden glow surrounding those two, almost like there was an invisible umbrella blocking out the snow, and then I blinked again, and they were just two silly boys fooling about in the snow without shoes.

And then the blond one turned at me, and goodness, he was good-looking, the way portrait models sometimes do, except he was plenty prattish to boot. He glared at me, see- ‘What are children these days learning?’ Ha, as if he were that much older than me!

Sorry ‘bout that pause- I had to hang up my coat. And get a cup of water. Don’t _laugh_ , Lance, I can’t help wanting to tell you everything.

Then the dark-haired one smacked the other over the head- goodness, I swear I heard the thwack- and told him something about dollop-heads and how some king or the other was a prat. Thank goodness they weren’t in front of the palace or something; he would have gotten himself beheaded!

Anyway.

And then the dark-haired one turned and looked at me, and there was something really fey-looking about him, not one whit out of place in all that snow. But he looked at me, and I mean really _looked_ , and then he froze, and I could swear his eyes softened a bit.

Well, then I had to ask if he knew me. I could see the blond bloke putting his arm ‘round the darker-haired one- almost like he thought I was a threat, absurd, isn’t it?- all protective, like. Suppose they were a couple after all. And old married couple, more like, if what I’d seen was any indication……

The dark-haired bloke smiled, a sad little thing, and I could swear there was a sheen of moisture in his eyes. They were a bit too shiny, see, for them to have been dry-

The strangest. Really, the strangest.

In another life, he says, and I stand there wondering if it’s some strange new sort of metaphor. The blond one’s eyes widen a bit. And the dark-haired one just squeezed his hand, in that I’ll-tell-you-later sort of way.

Yeah, I know. Unbelievable, right? But Lance, you know I wouldn’t lie to you about something like this…… just, feels so surreal, I just had to tell someone. And if I could only tell one person of course it would be you.

So.

I just stand there, mouth open, never-mind that I must have been catching all that snow in my mouth!- and the dark-haired one smiles again, in that heartbreakingly melancholy way, and brushes a finger over my cheek.

Your Lance will be fine, he says, and I swear his eyes turned golden for a bit. Beautiful, really. I mean- could I have been dreaming? Yeah, I guess so; Professor Morgana’s essays are pains up the arse, and I haven’t got a good night’s sleep in weeks…… but. It was so real, Lance. So real I think I could still draw his face if you asked.

The blond one looked at the dark-haired one, and tugged his hand, in a regretful sort of way- and he looked at me too, contemplative, as if wondering where he’d seen me. Maybe a flash of recognition there, too.

_Enough about that, Merlin_ , he says, so soft I couldn’t believe he was the prat from a moment ago, and the dark-haired man turns too.

I called after them- of course I would, Lance, wouldn’t you have, too?- but they just vanished back around the bend, and when I turned it, they were gone, just like that, almost as if the snow had swallowed them whole.

And it was just me, and the snow, and the street-lamps, again.

Strange, isn’t it.

But it’s just- I felt so hopeful, all of a sudden……

That dark-haired bloke, he told me my Lance would be okay, didn’t he?

We just have to hold on, Lance. Hold on, and have hope, and…… don’t skip out on therapy, and you can be out of bed and right back to kicking people’s arses with karate before long. I mean, we have to believe, don’t we.

Well, I do.

That’s what miracles are for, ay?

Yeah. Yeah, love you too.

Goodnight, Lance. Goodnight.

**Author's Note:**

> Please please leave something if you've enjoyed reading! I also accept comments in the format of simple emojis or a <3, btw.  
> I have a tumblr! Drop by at @the-seaworthy-muffin to say hi and chat Merthur and whatever you'd like. :D


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